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Lambency Wolf
The Lambency Wolves (Yomanaglo tugagiumh), formerly known as Ibbochr Shalewolves before the viral takeover, are a species of Icewolf indigenous to the icy world of Zukabergo-Nama Gusuk. They are in danger of extinction due to the lambency virus that has overtaken the planet. Lambency Wolves are distanty related to the Lambency Tailshrike, a larger species which they often must compete with for food. As their name suggests, Lambency Wolves fill the ecological niche of wolves, although they are not often seen hunting in packs. Because of the harsh environment of their homeworld, they have evolved to store fat in their tails, while the rough terrain has led to evolving hooves to better traverse the mountainous terrain. Physiology Because of the species' aggressive lifestyle, they have evolved shale-like plates along their back to protect them from fatal bites from their own would-be predators and larger Lambency Wolves. Lambency Wolf skulls are similar to those of all other Shalewolves. They are surprisingly small and seemingly stunted, barely complimented by a small brain case. Their skulls are tall, with many of the bones fused to reinforce its strength, despite its small size. While it superficially resembles a tyrannosaurid skull, it lacks the hollow chambers and large openings as it does not require a weight reduction. Their eye sockets are positioned for binocular vision, pointing forward to better aid in their predatory lifestyle. Despite this, they have trouble seeing behind themselves as their head is seemingly too small for their body. The evolutionary reason behind this is not known. Behavior While always an aggressive species due to the planet's harsh landscape, the Lambency Wolves are made even more so thanks to the lambency virus, an infection of unknown origin that has overtaken several species and ramped up their aggression to unadulterated violence. Lambency Wolves will sometimes collect into packs, but only if there is enough resources in the area to sustain one. These resources rarely last however and packs often go their separate ways after a short period of time. A pack lasting longer than 3 years is unheard of. During the warmer seasons of the year, they will actively seek out the opposite sex with which to breed. Females and males will build a nest in the Plutonium and Emeril caverns that fill the region. Here the female will eventually lay her eggs, and they will both look after the clutch; however this is more out of necessity of cave utilization for their own sake as for protecting their young. Young are weened early and must learn to hunt for themselves, although they often will form a makeshift pack for a short time. Before the virus took hold, they would go their separate ways on their own without any aggressive tendencies - instead, they would appear to just "grow bored" of one another and move on as if it was nothing. With the viral hold upon them however, they may attempt to kill each other which will also lead to a familial dispersal. Background history First Encounters A solitary Vy'keen poet named Zhot had set up a life for himself upon the planet's surface, choosing to pursue a life of poetry and prose as opposed to the life of a warrior. Living in the wilderness and often finding himself far from any signs of civilization, Zhot came to know the Shalewolves and Tailshrikes of Ibbochr Dale quite well. He grew to know how to avoid aggression by both sets of creatures but over the years he began to notice first a weakening of the individuals around him and then a quick escalation in aggressive tendencies. Having never been a scientist, he had no explanation for what may be causing these changes initially but the author in him led him to stay in the Ibbochr region for an extended period of time, sensing a story unfolding. During this period of time he made good friends with the members of a small Gek outpost with whom he would occasionally trade supplies with and relay information he had gleaned from watching the two species, albeit uneducated. On a cold and yet unseasonably warm night he heard a large pack of Ibbochr Shalewolves baying, an eerie sound that hadn't been heard in the region for some time, but now came in surprising numbers. Initially, the Vy'keen chose to remain indoors and wait it out as a large snowstorm was forecast to blow through the area that night, but by the late morning he had decided to make the trek to the Gek outpost and see if they knew what was going on. It took him some hours to make the trek, having to trudge through large snowdrifts that had settled. He was exhausted by the time he reached the ridge near the settlement but once he laid eyes upon it he gained new strength—he could just make out what appeared to be streaks of blood smeared across the snow around the facilities. Redoubling his efforts, Zhot raced to make sure his friends were alright. It was a horrible sight to behold, even for a Vy'keen. A great struggle had occurred, and some unknown assailant had torn each and every Gek stationed there to shreds. Blood smeared the walls outside the huts but while the structures themselves were thrashed, they were surprisingly clean of the fluid. Having explored the facility and learned that all of his friends were dead, Zhot let out an anguished shout into the night air before beginning to gather the deceased and prepare them for burial. Unfortunately for Zhot, his cry had attracted the attention of the assailants—a pack of twelve Ibbochr Shalewolves, covered in glowing sores and still thirsting for blood. They had been close to turning on each other but Zhot's shout caught their attention and they rushed off back to the Ibbochr research station. Here they caught Zhot by surprise and the first shalewolf leapt upon him, biting, slathering, and snarling. He barely had the time to tear the heavy creature off of him before it had a chance to bite him, and he quickly drew his energy pistol and blasted it through its eye, killing it immediately. Before he knew it, three more were upon him. The first he shot in the shoulder as it careened towards him, felling but not killing it. The next two reached him before he could fire another shot. Luckily for him, he still recalled his warrior's training and dodged their strikes several times before he could get another clear shot, firing into the third one's chest cavity and severely wounding its heart. It was hear that he realized that the two he had gravely wounded were still trying to come after him, and at that point he noticed that they all sported the glowing, orange sores on their bodies. He realized that the sores must be a disease that had caused their violence. Realizing that he had to contend with eight more infected shalewolves, he grabbed the body of the one he had already slain and used it as a shield to protect him from their bites, taking calculated shots when an opening presented itself while backing away quickly back towards the shelter of the research building. He had brought down another three by the time he got through the door. With six remaining, he fortified himself inside the research facility and took pot shots when he felt it necessary. He watched as the shalewolves grew impatient and ripped the wounded apart, bringing their numbers down to five still living. As Yepreckerts began to rise the remnants of the pack slowly gave up on taking Zhot's life one by one, but it was nearly afternoon by the time the last one disappeared over the ridge. Zhot waited a few more hours before returning outside and finishing his burial of the dead. With another stormwatch on the horizon he decided to take the Gek snowspeeder and return to town to try and warn the others. Outside Discovery thumb|320px|A Lambency Wolf ambushes [[Somarinoa.]] Following a signal beacon on the planet from nearby planet Ilongoqungo, Somarinoa landed only to immediately be set upon by a Lambency Wolf the moment he set foot on the planetary surface. Ill-prepared for such an encounter, the Loranche explorer was left to dispatch with the beast with his mining laser. With it dead, he noted the glowing, pulsating sores covering its body. Soon after he arrived at the beacon and activated it, which gave evidence of a small encampment nearby. Heading towards this signal on foot, Somarinoa realized just how cold the planet's surface was. He did not have much time to contemplate how long his life support system would last in the environment before he was attacked by yet another Lambency Wolf, this one having been in a stand-off against a Lambency Tailshrike. Somarinoa was forced to kill both species, and then noticed the even larger sore on the Tailshrike that led to his deduction that something had come to infect the carnivores. When he arrived at the camp some minutes later, he found it smeared in sapient blood; the lambent creatures had slain all of the colonists. However, the colonists turned out to be an away party from a nearby outpost, known as The Clemi. Taking his starship, he actually made it to The Clemi mere minutes before Zhot himself could, and the two reports helped the Geks decide that the situation was serious. Return to Zukabergo-Nama Gusuk thumb|320px|left|The Lambency Wolf pouts after failing to catch Somarinoa. A couple days after his departure from the moon, Somarinoa found himself returning here to mine gold as part of his ultimate plan to become rich enough to ensure success in this new galactic community. Once here he found little in the way of Lambency until he arrived at Hachadsh Dale. Again he encountered lambent species out in the wastes, though they did little to impede his progress in collecting gold. One notable wolf attempted to hunt him but discovered he was too far separated from it. When he used his jetpack to cross a tiny ravine and continue on, the creature whined as it watched his departure. Although ready for it upon his return, he found no evidence of it having ever been there, presumably having departed the area entirely in his absence. Behind the scenes *Both the Lambency Wolf and the Lambency Tailshrike were named in reference to the Lambents from the Gears of War series, known for their glowing orange bodies and ramped aggression. Category:Somarinoa's Content Category:No Man's Sky Category:Alien Species Category:Non-Sapient Species Category:Carnivores Category:Zukabergo-Nama Gusuk Inhabitants